Men’s Hockey: No. 3 Terriers Faces Northeastern in 70th Annual Beanpot
By Gracie Davenport
After finishing off the regular season sweep over Maine Friday night, No. 3 Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (20-6-0, 14-4-0 HE) looks ahead to its Beanpot Semifinal against the Northeastern University Huskies (13-10-3, 11-5-2 HE) on Monday night.
“The buzz is starting to come,” senior forward Jay O’Brien said at Monday’s Beanpot press conference. “[The] excitement is starting to come around campus. … Obviously it’s just a bigger arena, more fans. I think once the puck drops, it’s just like any other game.”
The Terriers are coming off a 5-3 road win over the Black Bears, and rank first in the nation with an average of 4.23 goals per game. The majority of its production this season has come from its senior and freshman classes.
All five of Friday’s goals came from either the senior-heavy top line or the first-year third line. Senior forward Wilmer Skoog scored the game-winner — his 11th goal of the season — and has picked up his offense at the right time.
Through his first 11 games in October and November, Skoog only had five points (1g, 4a). Since Dec. 2, the top-line center has 18 points (10g, 8a) in 14 games.
The Terriers return 10 seniors who won the Beanpot Championship last season, and they will be in charge of showing the ropes to BU’s group of six freshmen.
“We’re pretty old. We have a lot of seniors and upperclassmen,” Skoog said. “I think that’s gonna help the underclassmen understand what the Beanpot is all about and make sure they’re dialed in the way we need everyone to be.”
The first-year leading the narrative this season has been defenseman Lane Hutson. The Hobey Baker nominee enters the semifinal game on a 10-game point streak, with 18 (3g, 15a) over that span, including a career-high four points in his last game against Maine. Hutson also scored the highlight reel overtime-winner against NU on Nov. 19.
In net, this goalie matchup will be one for the ages. The Terriers will have junior goaltender Drew Commesso in between the pipes, and the Huskies will have junior Devon Levi. Both netminders participated in the 2022 Beijing Olympics for their respective countries last year, making this their first Beanpot appearance.
“[He has] all the confidence in the world,” senior forward Matt Brown said of Commesso. “He’s got to be top three, if not the best goalie in college hockey. I think that BC weekend was just a small flash of what he’s capable of.”
Fans got a taste for the intense matchup in the split November series, but the two teams have only gotten better as their seasons have progressed. BU and NU rank one and two in the Hockey East standings, with only three points separating them.
The Huskies are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to No. 14 UConn, but previously held a five-game win streak. Their offense has been led by senior forward Aidan McDonough, who leads the team with 32 points (17g, 15a) in 25 games played.
“You look at Aidan McDonough, obviously a world-class player,” BU captain Domenick Fensore said. “We do pre-scout and see what his tactics are, but I think just the whole team. … Every time we meet with them, it’s always a high-spirited game and always hard checking.”
Fensore returned to BU’s lineup in the recent Maine game after suffering a lower-body injury against the same team on Jan. 20.
“I think our leadership group has done a really good job of helping the young guys understand that it is just another game,” Pandolfo said. “For the freshmen themselves, they just want to play their game, so I think our guys will be fine.”
Even after getting Fensore back, the Terriers still will be missing a key piece from last year’s tournament. Senior forward Jamie Armstrong, who assisted on the game-winning goal in the 2022 Beanpot Final, re-aggravated a previous injury and is now week-to-week and out for the Beanpot. Senior defenseman Case McCarthy sat out of the Maine game after getting “banged up” at practice Thursday, but is probable for Monday’s game, according Pandolfo.
The Terriers will look to extend their seven-game win streak Monday night on the largest stage of their season. In front of a sold-out TD Garden crowd, their semifinal will follow Harvard and Boston College’s game. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. and will be available for streaming on NESN.